A Promise for a Week
by ClevernessRenamed
Summary: An accident and Elizabeth loses her vision for a week. Feeling guilty, Rodney promises to help her around until she gets her vision back. McWeir
1. Sunday

**A Promise for a Week**

Sunday

A/N: Welcome to another Stargate Atlantis fanfic! Along with the.. what is now? 4? 3? Other fanfics I'm writing? And I also should be doing avatars… But you know what? When was the last time I DIDN'T procrastinate? While the title to this is Sunday, it has nothing.. NOTHING AT ALL to do with SGA episode Sunday which is coming up. (of course… that episode is all about Weir and her new boyfriend! GAG. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG. Since this is McWeir… it HAS NOTHING TO DO with the episode. NOTHING. NOTHING. Nothing. NOTHIN'!)

Disclaimer: I have no disclaimer this time! I sent this stuff to the writers and they said it was BRILLIANT! It's going to be in Season 3 or 4! Isn't that freaking great? (You should know by now to not take me seriously.

Elizabeth hummed to herself as she touched the panel of her screen with her pen and dragged the card into place. So concentrated on her game of solitaire, she didn't notice anyone standing in front of her until said person rapped their knuckles against her desk and repeated her name.

"Elizabeth?" Rodney asked loudly, trying to get her attention.

Acknowledging the presence, her head snapped up to look at whoever was there. "Oh. Hello. Sorry." She said apologetically, holding up the screen and showing the unfinished game of solitaire.

Rodney brushed it aside with a wave of his hand. "It's fine. I usually do the same."

Elizabeth snorted. That was doubtful.

"Anyway, I wanted you to come down to the lab to see something."

"What."

"It's some sort of M.A.L.P type machine. It goes through the gate and relays information from the other side."

Elizabeth nodded. "And why do I need to see it?"

The Chief Scientist gave her a why-in-the-world-wouldn't-you-want-to-see-it look.

Elizabeth sighed. "Alright. But I'm fairly certain you'd benefit more by having Radek look at it. Not me." Standing up, she followed Rodney out into the hall.

A thought hit her. She was following him, not the other way around like she so well remembered. Stepping back as she walked passed him. Him following her. When did all of that change? She held back a sigh as she watched him, his back turned to her. He'd been so cold to her lately. The Rodney McKay she'd known a year ago would have firmly asked why she needed to know what it was to come down. This Rodney McKay didn't seem to want to bicker. Just talk and get it over with so he wouldn't have to talk again. Off limits. That's what it seemed like to her.

They walked down to the lab in complete silence, exactly as Elizabeth knew they wouldn't do a year or even 2 years ago. She let a small sigh escape from her lips. She was probably thinking too much into it.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't see a scientist walking towards her with a beaker filled with a liquid. She walked right into him and the beaker went flying, spilling it's contents wildly into the air… Before she even had time to blink, the liquid landed right on her face, filling her eyes and burning like acid. She dropped to the floor, holding her face and screaming at the pain. She heard Rodney turn his headset on and scream for a medical team. She'd stopped yelling… she felt weak…

Thudding softly against the floor, her consciousness ebbed away.

**RAWR STUPID PAGEBREAK NOT WORKING**

A constant beeping suddenly her consciousness back into her head. There were people nearby, talking softly to themselves. She recognized one of the voices as Carson.

Was she in the infirmary? What happened?

"She'll be fine." Carson's Scottish lisp said. "Not that much of it got into her eyes, although I don't want her using them for a week. But if she tries to take her bandages off too soon, her vision might get permanently damaged."

Sitting up, she heard everyone shift and scoot their chairs back.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?" Rodney's voice asked her.

"I'm fine. What happened?"

"One of the scientists was running around with a beaker with who-knows-what and some of it got into your eyes. I swear, running around with an unknown liquid is stupid already, but to not pay attention enough to run into someone? I should fire that person just for being that stupid…"

She let Rodney continue ranting, after all, he had answered her question. Lifting her hand, she ran her fingers over her eyes. Or… where her eyes would have been, if there weren't bandages wrapped around them.

She heard Carson speak up. "I don't want you using your eyes for a week, lass. If you take them off, you might not be able to see again."

"I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. It was all my fault, I should have seen this coming. And now you're in the infirmary with bandages wrapped around your…"

Elizabeth put her hand on his arm, an indication that it was alright.

"I want someone to help ye around, Elizabeth. Just make sure you don't get yourself hurt…"

"I'll do it."

She smiled to herself as she heard the whole room turn their heads to Rodney. It was strange of the scientist to agree to anything, much less help someone out.

"You feeling okay, Rodney?" she heard Allison ask as she held back a snicker. "Fevers? Hallucinations? Nothing?"

"Nothing." Rodney said flatly, obviously not amused.

Carson has promised to let her go back to her quarters tomorrow. Meanwhile, John, Teyla, Rodney, Ronan and Allison had gone off world after Elizabeth insisted that they do their work and not blow it off for her sake.

Somebody slid a tray into her lap.

"Oh no thank you. I'm actually not that hungry."

"Eat." Rodney's voice demanded.

"Rodney? I thought you went off world. I told you not to blow it off for me. I'm fine."

"Sheppard said I could stay behind."

"But…"

"No buts. I'm staying. So deal with it."

She scowled. Losing an argument was not something she usually did. She heard the scrapping of the spoon against the tray.

"Open up."

"I'm not hungry."

"So you're expecting me to sit here and watch you starve?"

Thankful that the bandages prevented him from seeing, she rolled her eyes. That man was so dramatic. Opening her mouth, she let Rodney feed her as he would a baby.

Minus the noises and the crying, and boy was she glad.

**RAWR STUPID PAGEBREAK NOT WORKING!**

Sitting up in her cot, Elizabeth laid her back against the wall. Being in the dark was scary, but not being able to see a thing frightened her immensely. She'd tried not to show it that morning and she didn't think anyone had noticed, but…

She was scared.

No, scared was an understatement. She couldn't see anything around her and the silent noises of the infirmary at night made her heart beat even faster. Without her vision, everything was becoming scary. Everything was becoming a monster. Forcing herself to calm down, she slid her knees up against her chest and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. She knew she was over reacting, but she couldn't help it.

Slumping her shoulders, she suddenly wished that she hadn't sent Rodney off to bed. She wished that he was still there, telling her everything was going to be okay and giving her the small company that she needed.

A small snore startled her and caused her to cower away from the sound and curl up even more. She felt her sheets shift as an unknown object landed on her cot.

A small murmur came from below her. "'Lizabeth."

Rodney's voice. She gave a small laugh in relief. She should have known that Rodney wouldn't leave her side. Sliding between her covers again, Elizabeth closed her eyes beneath her bandages and felt around for his hand. As soon as her fingers met his, they grasped her hand firmly. Her heart finally eased down with the comforting warmth around her fingers and she soon drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: Sorry it's so short. Other things to work on. I promise the later chapters will be longer though.


	2. Monday

Monday

A/N: Sorry I took so long with this! It's pretty bad so bear with me. Hopefully I'll get my ass up for writing the next chapters.

Elizabeth Weir did not like feeling helpless. But when her eyes were bandaged and she had no way of seeing, that was exactly how she felt. Helpless. She couldn't see, she couldn't work, she couldn't even walk anywhere without bumping into a wall. She didn't know what time it was, if it was light out, if anyone was there, watching her (which she would find disturbing to no end), or even if Rodney was still there.

She had woken up that morning more well rested than she normally would have, but she was sad to find that Rodney's comforting hand were gone. Then the next few minutes were spent arguing with Rodney that she didn't feel like eating again and involved the throwing of a spoon, a near throwing of a fork salad at Rodney's head and a food splattered room. But in the end, she had won… to an extent. Carson's yelling hadn't much of a reward.

She had some comfort in knowing that everyone was trying to help her. She knew that John and the others were perfectly capable of handling the city. But it still didn't help her nerves. She was a workaholic. Workaholics needed to work. Or at least keep their minds occupied. Hell, she couldn't even read a book to keep herself interested.

So this is what it felt like to be blind, she thought to herself. It was frustrating. She didn't even want to think about the amount of paper work that would be on her desk by the end of the week. Or what if the Wraith started attacking the city? Or the Asurans? What if someone went missing the next time they went off world? What if the lab exploded? What if-

"Elizabeth, calm down. Nothing is going to happen. Even if it did, we could handle it."

She felt her head immediately face the direction where the voice came from. Realizing she couldn't see him even if she wanted to, she rest her head on her knees. "I know, Rodney. I'm just…"

"Over reacting? Hyperventilating? Thinking up absurd catastrophes that have a one in a million chance of happening?"

Elizabeth felt a smile tug on her lips in spite of herself. Rodney always knew what she was thinking. Some might call it strange, but at the moment, she found it comforting, if not completely relieving that someone knew how she felt at the moment. It saved her the effort of lying and pulling on fake smiles because she knew it would be useless.

"Shouldn't you be down in the lab? Or taking a shower? Salad's don't go with hair, I hear."

"Har har. I'm sure Radek will be just fine." Rodney's voice said, dismissively.

"Letting someone else take over your lab, that's a first." She mocked playfully.

"Hey, if you're just going to be like that, I'll be happy to leave you here and just go."

She simply smiled and curled her knees up closer to her chest. It had been a while since the last time they had a real talk that wasn't purely professional. She knew that Rodney and her had grown apart recently, much to her confusion, but she had still missed the bickerings. Like a game she didn't want to stop playing.

"If it's any comfort, Carson said I can take you to your quarters at lunchtime. He knows you probably don't want to be cooped up in the infirmary for a week." Rodney said and she heard the familiar clatter of a coffee mug against the table. Tapping of Rodney's fingers on a keyboard were suddenly heard and she couldn't help but smile more.

Perhaps she should conduct a scientific study of how long Rodney could survive without his laptop. Elizabeth emitted a small giggle.

"What?"

"Oh nothing."

* * *

Lunchtime had come slowly. She wasn't sure if it was because she had nothing to do, or because she had been listening to Rodney go on about things in science she had absolutely no clue about. Listening to a lecture was boring. Listening to a lecture that you don't understand brings boring to a whole new level. She usually listened to Rodney's lectures, yes, but that was when he had a purpose. When he didn't have something new that he had discovered, his rants would be about theories and… It was boring. She was a diplomat, not a scientist.

But she had stayed silent, a little guilty that she should be feeling so bored when Rodney was doing his best to keep her company. Rodney wasn't that social anyway. The fact that he sat next to her at all meant a lot to her. She knew that she would feel worse not hearing his voice.

Everything still seemed like a dream. After all, she couldn't see anything. For all she knew, she could still be sleeping. But a gut feeling in her stomach told her it wasn't the case, no matter how much she wanted it to be.

After ushering Rodney out, she quickly groped blindly for the clothes that sat next to her. Or… near her. Being blind was become more frustrating by the second. She felt around her shirt for the tab, indicating the back of the shirt and slipped it on.

As she finished, she reached for the wall until her fingers brushed against the cool metal surface and let herself out of the room. One good thing about walking through the halls at night was that she knew the city by heart by now. Everyone was at lunch, so if she was lucky, she could make it to her quarters before anyone could see her.

It was awkward, walking without seeing where you were going, the wall and your instincts being your only guide as you walked through the halls. She felt a weak wave of relief wash through her as she remembered that she was only blind till the end of the week.

Getting to her room was fortunately uninterrupted by passerby, who probably felt it best to let her by, than make her feel pitied when the whole Atlantis crew came to the poor leader's rescue. If there had been anyone there. God, she hoped not.

She felt her way to the bed and pulled the covers over her head. Embarrassing? Definitely. Enough, at least, to make her want to curl up into a ball and melt through the floor so she could take her chances with the possibly dangerous fishes in the waters below.

A blip came from the door, telling her someone was on the other side. "Elizabeth!"

John.

She groaned and curled up more in the comfort of her bed, hoping he would think that she wasn't there and give it up.

"I know you're in there! I saw you walking in a minute ago."

A louder groan emitted from the covers. "I don't really want to talk, John."

"Yeah well then listen." A loud thudding came from the door as he banged his arm against it. "C'mon, open up!"

In a cry of frustration, Elizabeth threw the covers off her bed and stood up, uneasily inching her way to the wall and moving closer to the sound of John ramming his fists against the door. Jeez, were all men in Atlantis so STUBBORN? "Alright, alright, I'm coming." She said, annoyed at the sound thudding loudly in her skull. She ran her hand over the control console and heard the woosh of the door opening. "What do you want?" She said, in an annoyed voice.

She felt his hands grab her shoulders and redirect her position to where he was standing. "Just wanted to check up."

"You followed me, pounded my door for 2 minutes just to check up?" She asked.

"I didn't follow you." said John's voice, defensively.

She folded her arms.

"Okay, a little, but just to make sure that you got to your room alright. Rodney told me to make sure you were okay."

"Why didn't he come here himself?"

"Because.. he's.. having.. lunch?" John said, as if it was obvious.

Of course, she had forgotten. Rodney and his lunch were never to be separated unless you were either in a life threatening emergency or wanted to give your own head as a substitute.

She stifled a laugh, but couldn't help a smile.

"That's better, a smile." Insert silence that was occasionally punctuated by the sound of him moving. "Look, I hope you don't blame this on Rodney."

"I don't."

"Good. Because he feels really guilty. Like yesterday. Rodney had a big fight with Carson yesterday because the doc wouldn't let him stay in the infirmary. Beckett eventually gave in though… I suppose there's a first time for everything."

Elizabeth stood, a little stunned. She knew Carson and knowing him, letting a visitor spend the night would have been a battle well fought.

"I hope you're not driving him too hard or anything."

She sighed and ran her hand over the door console and shut the door in his face.

Sighing and ignoring the cries of John being a baby, she turned back to the room and felt her way back to the bed. Worst. Day. Of. Her. Life.

* * *

While lying in bed, self-pitying herself for a while, she had fallen asleep at some time or another and now woke up, probably a couple of hours later to some tick tacking on the keyboard. Shifting a little, she felt something holding the covers at a corner of the bed and she sat up.

"Elizabeth! Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Rodney?" her voice was obviously groggy and tired. "What're you –yawn- doing here?"

"Well I came here to give you your dinner, but you were sleeping so I decided not to wake you."

She smiled. So considerate.

"If you are hungry, I do have dinner, but it's cold now."

She blinked (or tried to) under her bandages. There something that wasn't really fitting into her brain… "Rodney, how'd you get in here?"

There was a small silence. "Elizabeth, who do you know that designs something and doesn't build a back door to it?"

"You HACKED my lock?"

"You make it sound so bad."

"Well other than the obvious breach of privacy I suppose its fine." She said, dryly. "What were you thinking?"

"Other than the fact that you can't see and that you refused to open the door? What do you THINK I was thinking?"

Silence again. Silences seemed so much more prominent when you couldn't see. But she supposed Rodney was right. If she had been in his position she would have been worried too. But that still didn't make hacking into her lock the right thing to do.

She heard him sigh. "Sorry."

"It's all right. I understand. Just… knock first?"

He muttered something that she just made out as "I DID."

"Shut up and pass me my food."

"Yes, ma'am." came the reply, and she could practically hear Rodney stick his tongue at her as he followed her instructions. That man really never had grown out of childhood, had he?

Dinner went by a bit more quietly than it had gone by at breakfast, with Rodney finally giving up after a fight of whether she could eat for herself or not.

But his typing was even more annoying. She didn't like how Rodney couldn't even keep his mind off the computer for one minute even when he was supposed to be looking after her. She frowned and shook her head. That didn't sound right. That made it sound like she was jealous of a laptop.

Tick-tack.

Biting her lip, she tried to ignore it. It was strange to know that yesterday she had found it comforting.

Tick-tack.

Her spoon fell to the tray in an annoyed clatter as the tick tacking stopped abruptly. Okay, so she hadn't exactly meant to slam the spoon down like that, but at least the typing had stopped.

"Elizabeth?" He sounded like he was unsure, perhaps thinking that she was going to attack him or something.

"Can't you stop working for once? You're supposed to be helping me not working."

"But…"

"I mean what could you be possibly working on that's so important!?"

"Uhm… I'm not really working."

"What?"

"It's more of recreation? I'm just writing something."

"What are you writing?"

"Well to be honest I'm working on that biography I wrote."

She blinked. Why did she keep doing that? She couldn't even show it. "The one about me?"

"Yeah."

"It was 500 pages long, what could you possibly add?"

"I'm just trying to improve my writing skills, okay? Unlike you I prefer science rather than writing on my free time."

"Really." was the dry reply. "I hadn't noticed."

She heard Rodney sigh in exasperation. "Y'know you haven't even started reading it."

Elizabeth turned to where she thought he was. "Yes I did."

"Well if you did, you never got past the first page." Then the typing started up again as she sulked.

She HAD started it, but it had been around 5 am and Rodney'd been dying so she really had never gotten the time. And why in the world was she sulking? She mentally slapped herself and sat up. Leaders of Atlantis did not sulk.

They. Do. Not. Sulk.

Maybe it was overexposure to Rodney. Heaven knew that being near him made you into a whiner.

Suddenly her conversation with John a few hours came rushing back. Guilty? Was he doing this just because he felt that he had to make it up to her?

"Rodney…"

"Hmm?"

"Did you…? Nothing. Never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What? You were going to say something."

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

There was a slight pause before… "Okay." The typing resumed.

Tick-Tack.

Sighing, she turned to 'him' again. "What time is it?"

"11 pm."

Tick-Tack.

"Don't you need to sleep?"

"Kinda busy."

"I thought you were doing that for 'recreation'."

"Yeah, but…"

"Go to bed."

"But… You'll be alone."

Blinking again. She had to stop that. "So?"

"Are you sure you want to be alone?"

The answer came slowly. "… no."

"Right then. I'll just make myself comfortable."

"You are NOT going to type all night, you'll keep me up."

"I'll sleep on your couch no worries."

Tick-Tacking again. When did that noise start becoming so annoying? "Or…" she found herself saying cautiously. "You could sleep in my bed."

"Elizabeth, if you think I'm going to let you sleep on the couch…"

She rolled her eyes and patted the empty spot next to her as she shifted a bit more to the side. "Here."

"Okay, reaching the point of real awkwardness here."

"You're not sleeping on my couch. It's not for sleeping on. And you're not sleeping on the floor, so c'mon." Reaching over to grab his arm, her arm that was keeping her up slipped and…

THUD.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She mumbled through the sheets that had fallen on top of her. Not the must humiliating day of her life, but it still ranked pretty high on the list. She felt Rodney grab her arm and help her up. "I can't help thinking that's going to be a routine for the next week." She heard a stifled laughter come from him. "Are you… Are you laughing at me?"

"I'm sorry, it's just kind of funny."

Getting back in the bed, she went over to one side. "Here. I'll sleep on my side and you can sleep on yours."

Another few minutes of arguing and Rodney was climbing into bed, begrudgingly at least. Rodney was having a bad day with arguments. He kept falling short with Elizabeth and she knew it. But somehow she didn't care so much as she eventually drifted off to sleep, thankfully not missing any of the tick tacking.


End file.
